While solid state drives are very well suited for netbooks from a power efficiency viewpoint, they pose problems when it comes to capacity (and performance, but that's another matter). In order to combat this issue, MSI has launched a new netbook with a hybrid approach to storage: it has a solid state drive for the operating system and applications, and a conventional hard drive for storage.

... speaking of which, there was a rumour on MacNN that Apple is indeed producing a netbook.

It seems like they'll have to do something sooner or later. The popularity of netbooks is probably here to stay, and even more so in a struggling economy. Sometimes I wonder if Apple took a misstep with the MacBook Air. They probably would have been better off with a smaller, less expensive netbook with more functionality. Once they release a netbook, I can't imagine them selling a lot of the Air. I'm not even sure if it's doing well for them now. It seem like most of the hype for the MacBook Air has died down. Really about the same time netbooks to centerstage.

Was there really ever a lot of hype for the Air? Sure, a lot of people ooohed and ahhed when it was first released. But then when reality set in and people realized how limited its use is and how limited the upgrades are and factored in the high price, I don't think there ever was a lot of hype for it, except for maybe the niche user._________________ Mercury TiBook 400MHz, 1GB RAM, 120GB HD, Airport
Mini 2.16GHz C2D, 2GB RAM, 320GB 72k RPM HD, 1TB External, Slingbox
BlackBook 2.2GHz C2D, 4GB RAM, 320GB 72k RPM HD
Mini 2.0GHz (Early 2009), 4GB RAM, 320GB 72k RPM HD